I Saved You
by FireflySurvivor
Summary: Alternative Ending to TASM2. What would have happened if Peter had saved Gwen that night at the clock tower? How would the events from that night affect their future together?
1. Just Breathe

**A/N: This is my first time ever writing a story related to TASM. I know there are loads of stories similar to this already up, but I wanted to write my own. This will nearly all be about Peter/Gwen. Unfortunately there won't be any action or fights written because writing stories like this is all new to me. I hope you enjoy.**

"Peter!"

Gwen could see it. The gears were about to break from the pressure of being blocked. If that bottom gear moved any further, it would snap the web that was holding her up. If she fell there was no way Peter was going to save her since Harry had him pinned down.

Peter didn't have time to even react to Gwen's shout. The moment he heard Gwen, one of the gears broke from the pressure causing them to move rapidly. His foot slipped from in between the gears. When the gear moved, Peter felt Harry being lifted off him by the force of the webs. It also snapped the web holding Gwen. Through all the loud noises from the gears and rubble falling, Peter didn't even hear the loud gasp that came from Gwen as she fell down the tower.

Harry was now out of Peter's sight. Peter looked down the tower and saw Gwen free-falling to the ground. He jumped down after her. He kept his eyes on Gwen as he flew down the tower. The fallen gears and rubble surrounded Gwen as she fell. He held out his right hand and shot a web between the falling debris and towards Gwen. He mentally pleaded with the web to reach Gwen faster. He knew the web was going as fast as it could but it just wasn't going fast enough. His nightmare of something happening to Gwen was quickly becoming his reality.

Gwen couldn't see anything around her. It was all happening so fast. Everything was falling around her, she couldn't see Peter. The first and only thought that went through her mind was that Peter was not going to catch her. Her hair and clothes madly flailed as she fell further. Her eyes filled with tears as the ground came closer. She closed her eyes and believing that this was how she was going to die. She felt something hit her stomach. She reacted by swinging her right arm forward and grabbing hold of what hit her stomach, not realising it was a web. The web stopped her fall just inches away from the ground. Her body was roughly pulled back up by the extended web. The tight grip she had of the web stopped her body from being forced backwards.

However it didn't stop her head from forcefully being pulled backwards.

Peter grabbed onto a metal bar to stop his own fall. He felt the web pull and slightly bounce back up which told him that the web had caught Gwen. His heart dropped when he noticed the silence in the tower. He was expecting to hear Gwen call for him or make some kind of sound. Peter hoped it was just because he was so far away from Gwen. He couldn't even see her at the end of the tower. He tied the web to the bar and jumped down, landing beside Gwen.

Peter tore off his mask, not knowing what to expect when he looked at Gwen. When he looked at her, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was tightly holding onto the web with one hand. Gwen's eyes were franticly looking about the tower in a state of shock and confusion.

"Hey, you're okay." Peter said gently as he put his arm under her back and held onto her as he cut the web. He fell to his knees while holding onto Gwen. He tried to brush away any broken glass before gently lay Gwen down on the ground. He slipped his mask under her head to protect her from any glass that could still be there.

Peter noticed that Gwen was taking short, rapid breaths that were coming out in gasps. It was obvious by the way she held her hand to her chest that she was finding it hard to breathe. He wasn't sure whether or not this was a panic attack that was brought on by everything that just happened.

"Gwen! Look at me!" Peter said loud enough for Gwen to hear him. "Gwen!"

Gwen looked around hysterically. The severe dizziness she was feeling and the fact her eyes were clouded with tears made her vision awfully blurry. She began to panic because she couldn't tell where she was or what was happening to her. She found it very difficult to make out any of her surroundings, she felt as if everything was spinning around her. She couldn't hear anything over the loud ringing in her ears. Her chest felt so heavy, she couldn't even try to speak.

Peter continued calling Gwen's name to try and get her attention. Even though her eyes were moving from side to side, Gwen looked as if she was in a complete daze. Peter put his hand on Gwen's cheek; he leaned in closer to her and gently tried to comfort her. He gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Slowly Gwen's vision became clearer. It was becoming easier to make out everything surrounding her. She looked up and was able to make out Peter's face looking at her. Peter sighed in relief when Gwen's eyes finally met his. The look of panic on Gwen's face slowly faded when she saw Peter.

"Peter?" She managed to say through her heavy breathing.

"Breathe." He told her as he continued to stoke her hair. "Just breathe."

Gwen's breathing slowly became more steady and easier to control. Peter's eyes filled up tears as he looked at Gwen. He let out a relieved cry as he placed both his hands on Gwen's cheeks. "You're okay."

Gwen's bottom lip began to quiver as tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes. She let out a sob as her body began shaking. She moved her right hand up to cover her face. She wasn't sure whether she was crying out of shock or out of relief that she was alive and Peter had actually caught her.

"I'm going to pick you up." Peter told her before he moved his arm under Gwen's back and gently pulled her onto his lap. Gwen immediately wrapped her arm around Peter's neck and sobbed into this shoulder. Peter hugged her tightly as he tried to gain some control of the tears that were falling non-stop.

He spent several minutes just sitting there, holding Gwen. He was so grateful that she was alive; he had never felt so happy to see her big green eyes. Gwen's crying slowly calmed down as Peter softly rubbed circles on her back. He kissed the side of Gwen's head before wiping away the last tear that fell from his eye.

"Peter, my shoulder hurts." He heard her say.

"Let me see." Peter answered as he gently lay Gwen back down on the ground. He gently moved her coat to try and get a better look at her shoulder. He started to think of the possibility that when he had caught Gwen's hand to stop her fall, he may have dislocated her shoulder. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder to see if it felt out of place. He carefully moved Gwen's arm causing her to shriek from the pain.

"I know, Gwen. I'm sorry." Peter said as he cautiously set Gwen's left arm over her stomach. He couldn't tell whether or not it was dislocated and he didn't want to risk doing any more damage by moving it. "Are you okay?"

Peter just barely saw Gwen shake her head in the dull moonlight. "No, my head really hurts."

"Okay, I have to get you to a hospital." Peter told her. Gwen's eyes began to fill up with tears again. Peter knew that she didn't what to go, but he had no choice. She was hurt and the only thing he could do to help her was get her to the hospital.

Peter patted the pockets of Gwen's coat to see if she had her phone so he could call an ambulance. He silently cursed when he realised she didn't have it. He didn't have his phone with him either. He couldn't leave Gwen alone while he got help. It was way too dangerous to web-swing to the hospital with Gwen since he didn't know what type of hidden injuries she could have.

"This is what we'll do." Peter told her as he wiped the tears away from her face and held her still shaking hand. "That police car you drove here in, it isn't far away. I'm going to bring you there and drive you to the hospital, okay?"

Gwen nodded as she tried to calm herself down but the thoughts of going to the hospital make her cry even more. She wanted to go home and see her family. She wanted to hug her mom. She just wanted to go to her room and climb into her own bed. She knew the pain in her head and shoulder couldn't be ignored.

Peter put his mask back on as he moved around so Gwen could wrap her good arm around his neck. He put one arm under Gwen's shoulders and the other arm under her legs. He cautiously stood up with Gwen in his arms. He looked at the rubble around them; he saw the main door to the clock tower a few feet away from them. He could hear the crunching of broken glass as he walked to the doors. He held onto Gwen tightly as he kicked the door. The second time he kicked the door caused it to fly open.

Both Peter and Gwen shivered as the cold night air hit them. Peter walked out of the tower and tried to remember the way back to the car. As he looked around he noticed blue flashing lights in the distance. Peter told Gwen to hold on as he ran towards them.

"Thank god!" Peter said with a sigh of relief when he got closer and realised there were police officers there, looking around the area.

"What on earth happened to her?" One of the officers asked as he approached them. "We got a call about some strange activity here."

"She fell down the clock tower. I just barley caught her. She is complaining of pain in her head and her shoulder." Peter explained as he kneeled down on the ground. "It's Harry Osborn. He brought her up there. He is still in the tower."

"We need more officers and an ambulance." The officer shouted to his partner.

"Can I stay until the ambulance comes?" Peter asked the police officer. "She is really shaken up."

"Yeah, that's no problem." The officer told him as he kneeled down next to them. He introduced himself as Officer Burke. Peter spent several minutes explaining the events that happened at the clock tower. Eventually, Officer Burke realised that Gwen was Captain Stacy's daughter.

When the ambulance arrived, Officer Burke excused himself so he could greet them. Peter leaned in and kissed the top of Gwen's head through his mask. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was scared.

"You'll be okay. When you get to the hospital just ask for my aunt." He whispered to her as he took her hand and gently squeezed it. "Get her to call me and I'll follow you to the hospital."

"Okay." She replied softly. Tears began to fall from her eyes when she saw the ambulance arrive. Peter could tell she was doing her best not to cry.

Peter continued to hold Gwen close as he watched Officer Burke and two paramedics approached them with a gurney.

"Gwen Stacy. She's nineteen years old. She fell though the clock tower and Spider-Man caught her." Officer Burke explained to the paramedics. "She is shaken up and suffering from dizziness, severe head pain and possibly a dislocated shoulder."

"I love you." Peter whispered to Gwen as he stood up and gently carried her to the gurney. Gwen grew more distressed as Peter gently lay her down. He stood back and watched as the paramedics quickly worked to comfort Gwen. Peter knew she was scared and didn't want to be alone. He watched as they wheeled the gurney to the ambulance. They loaded Gwen into the ambulance and started working on her. Peter could see the paramedics attach pads and leads to Gwen to check her pulse and heart-rate. His eyes filled with tears when he noticed one of the paramedics put a neck-brace on her. He stood there until they closed the ambulance doors and drove away.

"Don't worry about her, son." Officer Burke said as he approached Spider-Man and placed his hand on his shoulder. "She will be fine."

Peter snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the officer. He knew Gwen was in safe hands now but the guilt was not going away. He k=nearly lost Gwen tonight.

"We have some officers investigating the tower." Officer Burke informed him. "Do you think you could help them out?"

"Yeah, off course. Thank you for your help." Peter told him before webbing back towards the tower. The last thing Peter wanted to do was go back there, but he had to make sure Harry was taken away.

The tower was now flooded with police officers. There were a few officers searching the area outside the tower while others where inside looking around with flashlights. Peter landed next to the entrance of the tower. He made his way inside where he was greeted by at least five police officers.

"Spider-Man, we have a problem. It looks like that Harry Osborn escaped." One of the police officers told him. "There is no sign on him here."

"Actually last time I saw him he was up there." Peter said while pointing towards the top of the tower. He shot a web and began making his way back up the tower. The top of the tower was completely torn apart from the fight. Peter webbed up and landed on one of the gears that were still in place. He looked around and saw Harry lying on a ledge just below the gears. He was surrounded by rubble, he moved around as he slowly began to regain consciousness. Peter jumped down and landed beside Harry.

"Parker," Harry growled as he weakly looked up at Peter.

"Do you have any idea what you nearly did tonight?" Peter yelled as he grabbed Harry's shoulder and pinned him against the wall. "A widowed mother nearly had her only daughter taken away tonight! Three young boys nearly lost their sister! A nineteen year old girl who has her whole life ahead of her was nearly killed because of you!"

Harry tried to speak but Peter couldn't make out what he was saying, he wasn't even interested in hearing what he was going to say next.

Peter forcefully pulled Harry towards him so his mouth was next to Harry's ear. "Next time it's between me and you. You are never going near or sending anyone after Gwen or my loved ones again. Let's not talk about what happens if you do."

Peter grabbed Harry's arm before jumping down the tower with him. As they flew down, Peter shot a web towards one of the gears. He did this to slow down the fall as they reached the ground. Peter landed on his feet, he let go of Harry causing him to fall roughly to the ground.

"Get him away from here!" Peter said, bitterly. The police officers stared at Harry for a moment before surrounding him and picking him up of the ground.

Harry was aggressively muttering to Peter. Peter didn't understand what he was saying and he didn't even want to understand. Peter watched as they took Harry away. Peter felt his blood boil thinking about Harry taking Gwen. He nearly took away one of the most important people in Peter's life. He hated Harry for doing this. The last time Peter felt like this about someone was when his Uncle Ben had been shot.

Before anything could stop him, Peter shot his web and quickly got away from the clock tower. He couldn't stand being anywhere near that tower.

He wanted to be with Gwen.


	2. Stay With Me

**A/N: I wrote this part of the story based on research and my own experience with hospitals. So I apologise if there is anything in this that may not be right. Enjoy.**

Peter anxiously paced his bedroom while staring at the phone sitting in his hands. He was waiting for the call from Aunt May that didn't seem to be coming. It has been nearly three hours since Peter left the clock tower. Since he had got home he had changed out of his Spider-Man costume and got cleaned up. It felt like hours since he watched Gwen being taken away in the ambulance, even though it had only been three hours ago.

Peter felt unbelievable guilt over the events at the clock tower. He couldn't get the scared look in Gwen's eyes out of his head. He felt sick to his stomach when he thought about the paramedics putting the neck-brace on Gwen and putting those sticky pads onto her wrists and chest. He couldn't stand the thought of Gwen hurt.

Peter let out a frustrated sigh as he threw his phone onto his bed. He sat down at his desk and looked at the Polaroid's of Gwen that he had pinned to his board. He wanted to go to the hospital so badly to see her. He knew there was no point since only family would be allowed to see her. Also he had to wait until someone called to tell him, since he was with Gwen as Spider-Man.

When he finally heard the phone ring, he leaped towards his bed to pick it up. In the madness to pick up the phone, he ended up letting it fall onto the bedroom floor. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID to discover it was the call he had been waiting for.

"Aunt May?" He answered as he sat down on the bed.

"Peter, where are you?" He heard her ask.

Peter stood up and walked over to his window. "I'm at home. Why? What's going on?"

"It's Gwen." She told him. He heard her pause over the phone before continuing. "There has been an accident."

Peter knew where this was going but he couldn't let Aunt May know that he was with Gwen, because it was actually Spider-Man with her the whole time. "What kind of accident? Is she okay?"

"She's fine! She had a fall at the old clock tower next to the power station." Aunt May reassured him. "She is a little unsettled. Her mom can't get here right now so do you think you can come over and stay with her? It's only family allowed see her but I can get you in."

"I will be there soon." Peter said before hanging up the phone and putting it in his pocket. He opened the window and climbed out. He closed the window behind him and began web-swinging towards the hospital. It would normally take twenty minutes to drive to the hospital from Peter's house but his web-swinging got him there in just over ten minutes.

Peter landed in the hospital parking lot where no one could see him. From there he walked to the main entrance of the hospital where he saw Aunt May at the front desk looking though charts.

"You got here quick." She commented, giving her nephew a surprised look. "I thought the traffic was hectic."

"The cab driver took a route that wasn't busy." Peter lied. "Where's Gwen?"

Aunt May gestured for Peter to follow her as she walked towards the ER. "Come on. I'll take you to her."

Peter walked beside Aunt May as they went down the crowded hallway. Peter listened as his aunt explained all the things that he already knew; what happened to Gwen, that she had been hurt in the tower. Peter couldn't stand hearing how his attempts to save her had actually hurt her.

"Spider-Man saved her life tonight." Peter heard Aunt May say.

Aunt May lead him to a cubicle in the ER and pulled back the curtain. Peter walked in and saw Gwen sitting up on the bed. She was still wearing the same clothes from earlier, except for her knee high boots and her coat. Peter was thankful that she wasn't wearing a neck-brace. Her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her tangled curls were pushed back behind her shoulders. Her left arm was held up with a sling.

"Peter!" She cried, as her eyes began to fill with tears of relief. After spending over three hours in the crowded ER, on her own with doctors around her; she was comforted to have Peter there.

"Hey. It's okay." Peter quickly reassured her when he saw Gwen was about to cry. He hurried over and sat down on the bed beside her, pulling her into a tight hug. He couldn't even explain how thankful he was to see that Gwen was okay.

"The doctors didn't have any trouble getting her shoulder back into place; however there is some bad bruising but the swelling has gone down since we brought her in. It looks like she suffered some very mild whiplash but it doesn't look to serious. She'll just need to take it easy for the next few days." Aunt May explained as she sat down on the bed and looked at Gwen. "It may be another hour or two but it looks like you can go home tonight, honey."

"Are you sure?" Peter asked.

"That's one of her doctors said. We have to wait until the IV is finished and we can see how she's doing." Aunt May said, pointing at the bag connected to the IV line. "Gwen, honey, I called your mom. She said they had to evacuate your neighborhood during the blackout. She said there is a safety risk with the power lines. So your mom and the boys are staying in a hotel across town. So when the doctor lets you go, maybe Peter could bring you there."

Gwen nodded and she rested her head on Peter's shoulder. Peter turned and kissed the top of Gwen's head.

"I will check on you guys in a little while." Aunt May said before getting up and walking away from the pair.

"I'll be right back." Peter told Gwen as he gently helped her lie down on the bed. He got up and followed Aunt May out of the cubicle. "Aunt May!"

Aunt May turned around and looked as Peter followed her out. "What's wrong?"

"Can you get the doctors to keep Gwen overnight for observation or something?" Peter asked. He was expecting the hospital to keep Gwen overnight at least. "What if she has a hidden injury?"

Aunt May smiled at how caring her nephew was. "Peter, don't worry. She doesn't have a concussion. Her X-rays didn't show any breaks or fractures. She's fine. She is going to be very sore for the next few days and she'll have to wear the sling to support her shoulder. Other than all that, she's fine."

"But what if…" Peter began.

Aunt May gently put her hand up and interrupted him before he could finish. "We didn't find anything in her tests to worry about. If something isn't right, all Gwen has to do is come back. Why does she have to be miserable in a hospital bed when she can be at home in her own bed?"

Peter looked back into the cubicle just in time to see Gwen move around uncomfortably in the hospital bed.

"There isn't much we can do so there isn't any point in keeping her here and the hospital is way to crowded." Aunt May continued. "Trust me, if there was something that didn't look right, we wouldn't let her leave. Go and be with her."

"Thanks, Aunt May." Peter said before walking back into the cubicle, pulling the curtain behind him to give them some privacy.

"If fighting crime doesn't work out, maybe you could try acting." Gwen joked as Peter sat down on the bed next to her.

Peter playfully shushed her as he put his arm around her, trying not to hurt her shoulder. "How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?"

"I'm getting pain-reliever though this." Gwen said as she held up her right hand to show Peter where the IV was connected. "I'm just tired."

Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He held it on front of Gwen. "Want to call your mom?"

"Yes please." Gwen nodded before taking the phone from him. Peter helped Gwen dial in her mom's phone number, since Gwen was finding it hard to use the tiny keyboard on his phone.

Peter lay beside Gwen, stoking her hair as he listened to the conversation she had with her mom over the phone. He listened as Gwen insisted that she was fine and that she wasn't in the mood to explain what had happened at the clock tower.

"I know, mom. Peter is going to take me to the hotel when the hospital let me leave." Gwen said down the phone. "Yeah, I know the traffic is crazy because of the blackout but how else am I going to get there?"

"Gwen." Peter whispered. "You can stay in my house tonight if you want. It will be quicker to get there than to the hotel. Ask her."

"Are you sure?" Gwen mouthed as she slighted moved the phone away from her head. When she saw Peter nod, she put the phone back to her ear. She told her mom that Peter had offered to let her stay for the night and that she would go home first thing in the morning. Gwen nodded at Peter to tell him that her mom had agreed to let her stay. Peter went back to stroking Gwen's hair as she ended the phone call.

"We should have asked your aunt if I could stay." Gwen stated as she handed the phone back to Peter.

Peter shook his head as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "She will understand. Besides it will probably take over an hour to reach the hotel."

Gwen nodded before letting out a yawn. She looked like she was about to pass out at any second. Peter readjusted his position on the bed and held his arms out to her. "Come here."

Gwen moved closer to Peter and fell into his arms. Peter wrapped his arms around her as she let her heavy eyes close. He wished he could take all the pain away from her.

Nearly two hours later they were still in the ER. Despite the fact Peter had only been to the ER a handful of times in his life, he could have never imagined it could be so busy. In the past hour he overheard the doctors talk about all the emergencies they had seen tonight. He heard about car accidents and people getting injured at home as a result of the power outage.

The ER was extremely crowded. Doctors were rushing around, trying to work with the many patients and their families who were in the cubicles around them. The noise around them didn't seem to bother Gwen, who had spent the last hour drifting in and out of sleep. She was snuggled into Peter's side, using her mint green coat as a makeshift blanket. Peter lay beside her with his arm around her. He used his free hand and to use his phone.

Aunt May came in and smiled when she saw them cuddled together. She held a tray in her hand and set it on the bed. She looked at Peter who was staring at the tray. "I'm just going to take out her IV. The doctors are getting the paperwork ready to send her home."

Peter nodded before slowly moving so Aunt May could see Gwen's right hand. Peter watched as Aunt May took the IV out and placed a bandage in its place. Gwen suddenly woke up and looked around the room; Peter kissed the top of her head to remind her that he was still there.

Aunt May let out small laugh as Gwen looked at her bandage on her hand with a confused look. "I took the IV out, honey. You should get ready. The doctors are going to send you home soon."

Gwen nodded as she sat up in the bed. She put her right arm through the sleeve of her coat. Peter helped her pull her coat over so the left side could sit on her shoulder, since her arm was still in the sling. Gwen moved over so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Using her good hand to put on her knee-high boots back on.

"Aunt May, if it's okay with you, I'm going to bring Gwen to our house. It will only take 30 minutes at the most to get there." Peter told her as they left the cubicle. "Gwen's mom is okay with it. I'm going to bring her home in the morning."

"If Gwen's mom is okay with that, then it's fine with me." Aunt May smiled before handing Peter an envelope with Gwen's name written in it. "Make sure Gwen brings this home with her. The pain medication we gave her shouldn't wear off for another few hours. This is a prescription for medication she needs to take at home. We booked a check-up for her in two days, all the information is there."

"No problem." Peter said, taking the envelope and putting it into his jacket pocket. He went back over to Gwen and sat down on the bed next to her. She looked incredibly tired; Peter put his arm around her and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder as they waited until they were allowed leave. It was ten minutes later when Aunt May came back and told them they could go home.

"I'll walk you guys to the front desk." She said before guiding them out of the ER. She gave Peter the twenty dollar note that she had been holding in her hand. "Take this for the cab home."

Peter shook his head and refused to take the money. "No. I have money I can use for the cab."

"You already paid to get over here." Aunt May placed the note in Peter's hand. "Just take it to get home."

"Thanks, Aunt May." He said, feeling slightly guilty.

"I have a bag of old clothes in my room, look through it and you'll find something for Gwen to sleep in. I'm on a nightshift so I'll be home early in the morning." She explained as they reached the exit of the hospital. She gently closed the top button of Gwen's coat before letting them leave. "You'll feel better in the morning, sweetheart."

Peter gave Aunt May a hug and both he and Gwen thanked her before leaving the hospital. It didn't take long for them to get a cab. Peter felt physically and mentally drained, he knew Gwen felt the same. The taxi ride home was completely silent. Peter could tell just by looking at Gwen she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Peter just kept his arm around her, not wanting to annoy her by asking if she was okay again.

After their twenty minute journey home, Peter paid the taxi driver and guided Gwen into the house. They went straight up to Peter's bedroom. Peter helped Gwen take off her coat. He hung it up in his closet while Gwen sat down on his bed and took off her boots. Instead of looking through the old bag of clothes that Aunt May had mentioned, Peter went over to his drawer and looked through his clothes.

"Do you want to sleep in my Midtown hoodie?" He asked, looking back at Gwen. He pulled the black hoodie out of the drawer when he saw Gwen nod. He also pulled his old sweatpants out of drawer. He knew Gwen wouldn't mind wearing them. He remembered when they ran home from school one day in the pouring rain. By the time they got to Peter's house their clothes were soaking wet. He gave the same sweatpants along with one of his old t-shirts to Gwen that day to wear until she went home.

Peter set the clothes on the bed beside Gwen. Gwen was very pale; her eyes were still red and watery. She still had a frightened look in her eyes. Peter gave her a concerned look as he kneeled down beside her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Gwen shook her head as tears began rolling down her cheeks. Her head hurt from a mixture of tiredness and all the crying she had done in the past few hours. She felt so tired that she was beginning to feel sick. Everything that happened at the clock tower kept playing over and over in her mind. Peter wiped her tears away with his thumbs before placing his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I really don't feel well. I have a really bad headache can't get everything that happened out of my head." Gwen sobbed as her body started to shake; she used her hand to cover her face. "I'm scared, Peter."

"You're exhausted, Gwen. You just need to get some sleep and you'll feel better." Peter said, looking over at his digital clock and seeing it was just after two o'clock in the morning. He took her in his arms and gently rubbed circles on her back. He let her go a few minutes later and placed both hands on the sides of her head so he could look into her eyes. "Last time I saw Harry, he was being taken away by the police, so he isn't coming back. You are safe here. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, okay? There is nothing to be scared of."

Gwen nodded before Peter leaned and kissed her. When they moved apart moments later, Peter softly moved a strand of hair behind Gwen's ear and gently helped take the sling off. "I'm going to go downstairs so you can get changed."

Gwen shook her head as she stood up, picking up the clothes Peter left for her. "You don't have to; I'm going to get changed in the bathroom."

When Gwen left the room, Peter sat down at his desk and took out his phone to text Gwen's mom and let her know they were back at the house. He looked up at his Polaroid's on his wall. Gwen was no doubt traumatised by what happened; Peter hated seeing her like this. Looking at Gwen wearing that sling made him feel horrible, knowing he had caused that injury when he had tried to catch her.

When Gwen came back into the bedroom, Peter couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. The hoodie and the sweatpants were too big on her; she had to roll up the legs of the sweatpants because they were too long. The sleeves of the hoodie were long enough to cover both of her hands. She had brushed her hair when she was in the bathroom and it was now neatly over her shoulder. She put her folded clothes on Peter's drawer.

Peter pulled back the covers and gestured for Gwen to get in. Gwen climbed into the bed and carefully lay down. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"I'm not sure yet." Peter answered as he tucked one of his pillows under Gwen's bad shoulder for support. "I might make a makeshift bed on the floor."

"Will you stay next to me?" She asked as she moved into a more comfortable position in the bed that took some pressure off her shoulder. "I feel bad about stealing your bed."

"Don't feel bad. I just want you to be comfortable." Peter chuckled as he lay down next to her. He kissed Gwen on the cheek and held her hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Gwen said back as she closed her eyes. She was asleep within five minutes of resting her head on the pillow. Peter gently let go of her hands and slowly got out of the bed. He pulled the covers up to Gwen's neck before going to his closet and closing the door behind him. He quickly got changed into a t-shirt and grey sweatpants.

When he went back into his room, he lay back down on the bed and just watched Gwen sleep. He was tired but he wanted to stay awake for a while and make sure Gwen was okay. Even though Aunt May promised she was okay, he was still worried. He lay there just listening to the gentle sound of Gwen's breathing. He kept thinking about everything that had happened in the last few hours. He nearly lost Gwen tonight. If anything had happened differently at that tower, she would have been killed. Peter tried to get those horrible thoughts out of his head. He couldn't risk anything happening to Gwen again.

About an hour later, Gwen began to whimper in her sleep. Peter sighed as she began to toss and turn.

It was going to be a long night.


	3. What If

**A/N: I edited this a good few times, so I hope you enjoy it.**

Peter yawned as he rested his head on his desk. It was safe to say he just had the longest night of his life. He didn't sleep at all. Anytime he tried to sleep he just saw the terrified look on Gwen's face as she fell down the tower. He spent most of the night watching over Gwen, making sure she didn't roll over onto her shoulder. Peter looked over at Gwen who was sound asleep in his bed. It was just after nine in the morning. He was thinking of waking Gwen up with breakfast but considering the restless night they both had, he decided to let her sleep as long as possible.

Gwen had about four hours of broken sleep. She woke up several times during the night because of bad dreams about the events from that night. She found it very difficult to go back to sleep whenever she woke up, despite the fact she was absolutely drained. She woke up a few times in a panic calling Peter's name. At about five in the morning she literally jumped out of her sleep screaming because she had dreamt Peter didn't catch her on time. Each time she woke, Peter held her and stroked her hair until she was asleep again. He was exhausted. Without a doubt this was one of the toughest nights of his life.

Gwen began to stir in her sleep. Peter quickly moved over to the bed and sat down. He watched as Gwen yawned before opening her heavy eyes. After giving her a moment to wake up, Peter gently leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Hey."

Gwen looked up at him and gave him a tired smile. "Hi."

Gwen wasn't as pale as she was last night. She looked a lot better but still looked very tired. Peter was just glad to finally see that smile appear on her face again. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus." She groaned as she rubbed her tired eyes. She tried to sit up but let out a small gasp because of the pain in her shoulder.

"Hey, be careful." Peter told her as he helped her lie back down. "My aunt said that you'll be very sore for the next few days."

Gwen buried her head into the pillow and closed her eyes once again. "I kept you awake all night, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't. I slept for a little while." Peter said as he brushed back her messy hair. "You didn't really have a good night."

"How many times did I wake up?" Gwen asked opening her eyes and looking up at Peter again.

"A few times, do you remember?"

Gwen shook her head as she used her good arm to sit herself up in the bed. "I only remember waking up after having that nightmare. I barely remember anything after leaving the hospital."

The fact she barely remembered the past few hours wasn't a surprise to Peter. She was so exhausted that she wasn't herself at all. The past few hours seemed like a blur to Peter since he was so tired. "I'm so sorry I got you into this."

"Peter, don't." Gwen said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "This is not your fault. It was my choice to follow you there. None of this is on you."

"I was meant to protect you and I just ended up hurting you." Peter argued.

"You saved my life!" Gwen insisted. "You didn't hurt me. You did what you had to do to catch me. My shoulder will heal."

"But…" Peter continued.

Gwen shushed him before he even started his sentence. "We are going to stop talking about this now. You did everything up could to try and stop me from falling. When I did fall, you caught me. Yes, I hurt my shoulder but it will get better. It's not your fault. You didn't cause any of this."

Peter nodded. He decided not to argue with her any further but the guilt was not going away. "Do you want to go downstairs and get some breakfast?"

Gwen groaned as she carefully lay back down, pulling the covers over her head. "I don't want to get up."

Peter chuckled as he pulled the covers slightly so he could see Gwen's face. "How about I go and get ready and I'll call you in half an hour for breakfast?"

Gwen nodded before yawning again. "Yeah, sounds good."

Peter smiled before kissing Gwen's head. He stood up and got his clothes for the day. He went into the bathroom and had a quick shower before changing into a blue t-shirt, jeans and converse. He went downstairs into the kitchen. He tried to be as quiet as possible knowing that Aunt May got home a few hours earlier from her nightshift.

He heard footsteps behind him; he looked around to see Gwen walking down the stairs. She was wearing her clothes from yesterday and had managed to tie her hair back into a messy ponytail. Her left arm was once again held up in the sling.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Peter asked. When Gwen walked over to him, he slighted adjusted the sling to try and make Gwen's arm more comfortable.

Gwen hesitated as she leaned against the kitchen counter. She didn't feel like eating anything but she didn't want to say that to Peter. "I'll just have some toast."

Peter was about to get everything he needed to get breakfast ready when he noticed something on Gwen's shoulder. He carefully moved her shirt to get a better look. He gasped when he saw a dark purple bruise forming on her shoulder.

"Gwen, that looks really painful." Peter said as he moved his fingers over the bruise.

"It looks worse." Gwen replied. "I promise. It doesn't hurt as much as it did last night."

Peter felt so responsible for everything that had happened to Gwen last night. Knowing that Gwen could have suffered worse than a bruised shoulder made him feel horrible. He knew that he should be thankful that Gwen was okay and wasn't hurt badly but it was hard not to think about all the horrible things that could have happened. She could have broken her neck in the fall, she could have broken her back when the web stopped her fall; she would have been killed if she hit the ground. Peter honestly had no idea how Gwen had survived, but he was just glad she did.

He got the toast ready for Gwen and got cereal for himself while Gwen got orange juice for Peter and made tea for herself. They sat side by side at the kitchen table as they ate.

"Are you disappointed about missing your flight?" Peter asked. Even though Gwen hasn't mentioned anything about it, Peter knew how important it was to her.

Gwen shrugged her shoulders before putting the piece of toast back onto the plate. "What can I do? I'm not going to get there on time for the summer classes. I'm just going to have to contact them and explain what happened."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they will understand." Peter couldn't help but think that Gwen could have been safely in England right now if the events at the clock tower didn't happen.

"I hope so." Gwen sighed before taking a sip of her tea. "My flight could have been cancelled due to the power outage but I don't know."

"You were injured at the clock tower and you had to go to the hospital. There are documents to prove it. They have to understand." Peter tried to reassure her but it was hard not to notice the sad look in Gwen's eyes.

"I really don't want to talk about what happened at the clock tower." Gwen said before giving Peter a sad smile and taking his hand. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"You know I'll do anything for you." Peter put his arm around Gwen's shoulders and leaned in until his lips met hers. They kissed for a moment before Gwen softly pulled away.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He told her as gently rested his forehead against hers. "We should probably get you home. Your mom is going to want to see you."

Gwen nodded in agreement before picking up her toast again. "Just let me finish this."

When they finished eating, Peter called a cab while Gwen put her coat on. They sat together on the steps of Peter's front porch while they waited for the cab to arrive. Peter let Gwen use his phone to let her mom know she was on the way home. Thankfully her family had been allowed go back to their apartment earlier that morning. They held hands the entire drive to Gwen's apartment. When they arrived there, Peter paid the driver and helped Gwen out of the car. He held her hand as they walked over to the front doors of her apartment.

"Are you coming in with me?" Gwen asked.

Peter shook his head as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "No, I think your family would like to spend some time alone with you."

Gwen rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him "Thank you again for everything."

Peter smiled as he kissed her head. "I'm just glad that you are feeling better."

"I'll be fine." Gwen assured him. "Don't worry about me."

"I'll come over tonight before you go to bed. Okay?"

Gwen smiled and nodded before kissing Peter. She let go of his hand and headed towards the doors of her apartment. Peter stood back and watched her walk through the glass doors. He could see her family in the lobby waiting for her. He saw her mom rush over and hug Gwen tightly. He saw Gwen nodding her head, obviously trying to assure her mom that she was okay. Peter could see her put her arm around one of her brothers as they walked to the elevator.

Peter walked down the street, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. He needed to use this time alone to do some serious thinking.

Later that night, Gwen lay on her bed in her purple pyjamas. She flicked through the pages of a novel that her father had given to her just before starting her senior year. She wasn't wearing her sling and had her arm resting over her stomach. Her washed hair was scattered across her pillow. She was covered from the waist down with a blanket her grandmother knitted for her when she was born. Her room was lit up by the lamp on her bedside table which made her feel more relaxed.

She heard a noise on the fire escape. She pushed the blanket off her and made her way towards the window. As she got closer she noticed Peter standing there. Gwen giggled as she opened the window with her good arm.

"Seriously Peter? I thought we were done with you coming in through the window." She laughed as she watched Peter climb in.

"It's late. I didn't know if your mom would want me to come over at this time." Peter stated as he closed the window behind him He looked at his watch to see it was just after ten o'clock. "Where is your family?"

"My mom went to bed and the boys are probably watching TV or something." Gwen told him as they walked over to her bed. As they sat down on the bed, Peter could see how Gwen looked more comfortable to be back in her own bedroom.

"I will be lucky if my mom ever lets me out of her sight again." Gwen joked as she picked up her phone and waved it to Peter. "Philip managed to find the cab driver from yesterday and he got my suitcase and purse back."

"Did you hear anything about Oxford?" He asked.

Gwen nodded as she moved back on the bed so she could sit against wall. She tucked her knees up to her chest and folded her arms above them. "My mom sent them an email last night. Turns out I'm going to miss the summer classes so I'm going to start classes at the end of August. So I'm going to be here for a few more weeks."

"That's great." Peter said as he moved beside Gwen and put his arm around her. "We get some more time together."

"Well, I still have to book my flight but I'll be here until August." Gwen explained as she took his hand. "So maybe over the next few weeks you can start planning to go over?"

"What?" Peter asked.

"Go to England?" Gwen reminded him. "Remember? They have loads of crime over there."

Peter nodded. "I guess we will have to wait and see what happens."

"I know it's going to take a while to get it all planned." Gwen said as she gently squeezed his hand. "We can call each other as much as possible until you can join me."

Peter nodded and gave Gwen a weak smile. He held his arms out towards Gwen and gestured for her to move over to him. "Come over here."

Gwen moved over and rested her head on his shoulder as Peter wrapped his arms around her. As Peter held her, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him once again. He had been thinking about England a lot these past few hours. Peter didn't know what to do; he didn't want to put Gwen at risk again. He didn't want say anything that could upset Gwen after the tough twenty-four hours she just had. They held each other for several minutes until Peter kissed Gwen on the top of her head and let her go.

"You should get some sleep." He said. Gwen nodded before she got under the covers and lay down on her side. Peter took one of her pillows and placed it behind her back to stop her from rolling over onto her bad shoulder. He pulled the comforter up to her shoulders. "Do you want me to stay for a little while?"

"I think I will be okay." Gwen told him with a small laugh. "You must be tired. Go home and sleep, Bug-Boy."

Peter laughed as he leaned in and gave Gwen a kiss goodnight. "If you need anything during the night, just call me. Okay?"

"I will. I love you." She said as she closed her eyes.

"I love you too." He said with a small sigh as he gently stroked her blonde hair. Even though she said she was okay, Peter decided to stay with her anyway. He stood up a few minutes later when he was sure Gwen was asleep.

He quietly went to her window and climbed onto the fire escape. He closed the window behind him and looked at Gwen through the glass. Peter couldn't put her through this again. He loved Gwen so much that he would choose her without a doubt. He had a thousand fears going through his head. What if Harry planned on using Gwen to get to him? Peter could handle it if Harry planned something against him, but what if Harry planned something against Gwen and Peter couldn't do anything. He didn't want Gwen to be involved in this.

He didn't know what the right thing to do was but he needed to keep Gwen away from all of this.


	4. Let Her Go

**A/N: Before you all plan on taking me out, I had to do something to make the story a little longer. I re-wrote this chapter a total of five times, so I hope it is okay. As always, enjoy!**

It has been nearly three weeks since the incident.

Peter still couldn't figure out what to do about going to England with Gwen and he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. Even though letting Gwen go to England alone felt like the right thing to do, he couldn't stand the thought of upsetting her. Upsetting her was the last thing he wanted to do. Peter went to Gwen's apartment as much as possible.

Gwen was doing much better since the incident. She was feeling calmer and wasn't having any trouble sleeping through the night. Her shoulder was healing well and barely hurt anymore, the bruising was now fading away. She still had to wear her sling but she didn't wear it when she was at home.

Gwen was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She had invited Peter over since her mom and brothers were gone out for the day. She flicked through the channels as she waited for Peter to come over. She stopped on a news channel when the headline caught her eye. They were talking about Spider-Man, saying that sightings of him had reduced over the past few weeks. Gwen looked at the TV in confusion. Peter had only been coming over to see her in the evening; Gwen assumed that Peter was going out as Spider-Man in the mornings.

Gwen turned the TV off when she heard a knock on the door. She walked over to the door and opened it to see Peter standing there.

"See, isn't it so much better to come in through the lobby?" Gwen teased as she let him in. Peter laughed as he gave her a kiss. She closed the door before walking with Peter into the living room.

"Where is your sling?" He asked as they both sat down on the couch.

"I don't want to wear it." Gwen admitted as she tried to avoid the stern look Peter was giving her. "The doctor said I didn't have to wear it when I'm resting. I'm not doing anything exciting at the moment."

"I guess that's okay, as long as it's getting better." Peter said.

Gwen smiled at Peter as she moved closer to him on the couch and took his hand in hers. "I have something to tell you. I booked my flight to England. I'm leaving on August 15th."

"I have to talk to you about something." Peter said as he got to his feet, walking across the room and turning around to face Gwen.

"Peter, what's wrong?" Gwen asked, knowing there was something going on with Peter; she could see it in his face. She never said anything but Peter seemed distant since that night at the tower. "Tell me. What's going on?"

The last time she saw him like this was when they broke up the night of their graduation. She suddenly got a horrible feeling in her stomach.

"I've been thinking these past few weeks; I don't think I can go to England. Not now." Peter said. He looked at Gwen who was giving him a hurt and shocked look. "I can't risk anything happening to you again."

"What do you mean?" Gwen sighed as she also got to her feet. "Peter, please don't do this again."

"I promised your father that I would stay away from you to keep you safe." Peter told her. "You were nearly killed because I didn't keep that promise."

"I can't believe you are doing this to me again." Gwen shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "How many times are you going to do this, Peter?"

"Listen to me, Gwen!" Peter cut in. "I love you! You are the most important person in my life. I can't let you get hurt again."

"I can take care of myself!" Gwen said without even realising she was raising her voice. "Nothing is going to happen to me, Peter!"

"You nearly died, Gwen!"

"But I didn't die!" Gwen shouted. "I survived! I survived because you saved me!"

"What if something happens to you again and I can't save you?" Peter asked as he paced the room. "You and I both know that you could have ended up getting killed or with a permanent injury. I refuse to let that happen to you."

"I thought you were going to England with me because you loved me." Gwen cried, sitting back down on the couch while covering her face with her hands.

"I do love you Gwen! That's why I'm doing this." Peter insisted as he stopped pacing and looked at Gwen. "Harry knows I'm Spider-Man. He knows about you Gwen. So if he plans anything towards me, you'll be at risk."

"Harry's in the Ravencroft Institute." Gwen pointed out as her eyes filled with tears.

"For all I know he could be teaming up with other criminals to get us!" Peter told her.

Gwen wiped away the single tear that rolled down her cheek using the back of her hand. "Why didn't you talk to me about this that night in my bedroom when I mentioned it?"

"You just had a near death experience. I didn't want to upset you." Peter answered.

Gwen let out a frustrated sigh as she put both of her hands to her face. When Peter kneeled down on front of Gwen he realising she was crying. He sighed as he placed both of his hands on her arms. He hated seeing her cry.

"I don't want to break up with you, Gwen." He sniffed as tears began to fill in his own eyes. He gently pulled her hands away so he could see her face that was covered in tears. "I don't know what to do. If we are together, that's Harry's opportunity to get to you. They are going to use you to get to me. I can't let that happen."

"I thought that England was going to be our adventure together." She said, looking him with watery eyes. "You can't keep doing this, Peter. You can't keep leaving me. I'm not scared."

"I know, Gwen. I'm sorry that you have to be involved in this." Peter took both her hands and held them firmly. "I want to go to England with you but I can't let anyone hurt you again. I can't lose you."

"Peter, I know you are scared because of what happened at the tower and I know you feel guilty." Gwen asked while wiping her eyes. "We can't live with that forever. We need to move away from it."

"I know but seeing you so scared that night made me think about how much worse this whole thing could have been." Peter told her. "I just don't want to put you through all that again."

They sat in silence for a moment until Gwen spoke. "So what happens now? What's going to happen between us?"

"We can spend as much time together as possible before you leave." Peter wiped one of Gwen's tears away with his thumb. "When you go, we can text as much as we can. We can call each other on the weekends."

"So a long distance relationship?" Gwen asked. "I don't think this is going to work. I'm going to be really busy in Oxford and we have to deal with the time change."

"I think we just need time apart to get over this." Peter said. "Let's just give it some time to make sure no attention is on you."

Gwen gave Peter an uncertain look. "What if something happens to you?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Peter reassured her before kissing her forehead. "I love you, Gwen. I want to spend the rest of my life with you but I need to keep you safe."

Gwen hesitated before answering. "Well, it's going to take time for you to go over. So while you are planning to go over, that can be our time apart. No one is going to hurt me in England. It's completely your choice, Peter."

Peter nodded, knowing that a long distance relationship during their apart would be very complicated. He got up and sat on the couch beside Gwen. "Hey, you'll be in Oxford for four years. I'll be in England with you before you leave."

"Can you promise me that?" Gwen asked as she wrapped her arms around Peter's neck.

"I promise you, I will. I don't know when but at some point I will be in England with you. I promise." Peter told her.

Gwen nodded as she ran her hand through Peter's hair. She didn't like the thought of having a long distance relationship with Peter mostly because she had no idea how it was going to work. "Can we just make the most of the time we have before I leave?"

"Off course, we have about six more weeks here together?"

"Yeah, we have a little over a month together." Gwen answered.

Peter laughed as he rolled his eyes. "Okay, we'll make sure to enjoy our next few weeks together."

August 15th arrived faster than Gwen and Peter ever could have imagined. They had spent every day together over the past few weeks. Gwen insisted that Peter should continue going out as Spider-Man and stop worrying about her. Peter only had to deal with minor crimes over the past few weeks. When he wasn't out as Spider-Man, he was spending as much time with Gwen as possible. They did everything together from wondering around the city to just sitting in their bedrooms watching movies.

Gwen was excited to leave, but she was also worried about how things were going to change now that her and Peter were going to be so far apart. She loved Peter and would do anything to have him in England with her. She knew he wanted to keep her safe.

Her flight was early that morning. Her mom and brothers went to the airport with her to say goodbye. She had spent the previous night with Peter. It was emotional; they had spent most of the night hugging. Peter didn't stay late, knowing that Gwen needed to be at the airport early.

"I'm really going to miss you, Gwenny." Simon Stacy said, looking up at his sister.

Gwen got down on her knees beside her youngest brother and pulled him into a tight hug. She squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop any tears from falling. "I'm going to miss you so much, buddy. Be good for mom, okay?"

The youngest Stacy nodded as he watched Gwen stand up. Gwen turned to Howard and held her arms out towards him.

"Give me a hug!" She ordered causing Howard to roll his eyes and laugh as he put his arms around his sister and hugged her tightly.

"Good luck, sis." He told her.

Gwen's oldest brother pulled her into a hug before she even had a chance to look at him. Even though he was two years younger than her, he was very protective of his only sister. "You are going to do great over there."

"Thank you, Philip." Gwen pulled away so she could look her brother in the eyes. "Take care of mom, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will." He promised as he let her go.

"Honey, do you have your passport?" Helen asked as she looked into Gwen's carry-on bag that she had been holding for her while she said goodbye to her brothers.

Gwen nodded as she held up her passport. "Have it right here."

"You're not forgetting anything?" Helen asked for what must have been the tenth time that morning.

"She's just forgetting one thing."

Gwen turned around and was stunned by who she saw standing there. She looked back at her mom and brothers and knew that they were just as surprised as she was.

"Peter."

Gwen told her family she would be right back before handing her passport and boarding pass to her mom. She walked over to him, not knowing what to say. Peter smiled at her when she reached him. "Hey."

"Hi." She said, smiling back at him. "What are you doing here? I thought we said our goodbyes yesterday."

"I know you were going to spend time with your family this morning. I had to give you this." Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out a rectangular box. He opened it to reveal a silver bracelet.

"It's beautiful." Gwen gasped. It was a silver charm bracelet; it had only three charms. One of them was a plain silver heart; the other charms were a blight blue butterfly and a dark blue flower. They were all spread out evenly around the bracelet.

"The store told me it wouldn't be ready before you left. So I was going to wait and give it to you on at Christmas." Peter explained as he took the bracelet out of the box and put it around her wrist. "I got a call this morning to pick it up so I got here as soon as I could."

"Wow. I don't know what to say. Thank you so much. The charms are my favourite colour." Gwen commented while giggling.

"I know. That's why I picked them." Peter told her. "Read what the heart says."

Gwen moved the heart around until she found the small engraved design on the silver heart. In a small script font it read; _you're my path._

Gwen looked at him as tears to fill her eyes. "Peter,"

"I know it's going to be hard because of this long distance. I love you, Gwen. I don't know when but at some point I will be in England with you." Peter began. "I promise. That little charm is to remind you that I love you and I'll be there soon. For now, I'm going to be right here, supporting everything you do."

Gwen threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Tears rolled from her face and fell onto Peter's jacket. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too." Peter said as he held her tightly. "We are going to talk as much as we can, right?"

"Right, I'll text you when I get there." Gwen told him. "I'll be home for a week in December. I'll see you then."

Peter nodded before leaning in for one last kiss before Gwen left. They kissed for a moment before Gwen gently pulled away. "I better go."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Gwen told him before turning around and walking back towards her family. She turned around to face Peter while taking a few steps backwards. She laughed at she wiped the tears away from her eyes with her hand. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry before getting on the plane."

Peter laughed as he watched Gwen walk to her family. All three of her brothers pulled her into a group hug. He couldn't help smile as he watched Gwen's mom pull her into a tight hug and kiss her head. He could hear her telling Gwen to call her the second she arrived in England. Gwen took her bag and her passport from her mom and walked away, waving at her family as she left.

Peter stayed in the same spot as he watched Gwen leave. She looked over to him and waved one more time. Peter waved back and watched until Gwen disappeared in the crowd. He sighed as he left the airport.

She wasn't even gone for five minutes and he missed her terribly.


	5. This Is Our Path

**A/N: First of all, I want to thank you all for not hunting me down after the last chapter. As I already said, I had to do something to make the story longer. As I mentioned in the first chapter, this is all new to me so I really appreciate all the positive reviews I got with this. It gave me a real confidence boost. This is the last chapter, so I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed this. I'm working on a new story at the moment, it won't be up for a while but the positive feedback I got with this inspired me to keep going with it. So thank you so much and enjoy.**

It was just the beginning of the month of May.

Gwen couldn't believe she was nearly finished her first year in Oxford before the summer. Going to Oxford was an unbelievable experience; she loved every second of it. She loved the new friends she had made, but she missed Peter. Gwen had many friends in New York; out of all of them she had kept in contact with Peter the most.

She got to see Peter when she went home for Christmas. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with him because of the craziness of the Christmas holidays. They did get to go out for dinner the night before she was due to fly back to England. She still wore her bracelet every weekend.

She spoke to Peter as much as possible, but it became more difficult as her schedule got busier. It had changed from being in contact daily, to just talking on the phone on Saturdays. Peter always finished every single phone call with 'I love you.'

Gwen worried about how this was going to affect their relationship. She wasn't sure how long they could keep going like this. Peter hadn't mentioned anything about going to England and Gwen couldn't bring herself to ask. She knew Peter was scared of something happening to her it was that fear that was stopping him from coming over.

Crazy things happened in New York City over the past few months, off course Spider-Man was involved every single time. Criminals were being broken out of prison and causing havoc in the city. When all that happened, Gwen would sit at her computer, anxiously waiting for news on whether or not Peter was okay. She tried to piece together what was known about these criminals to try and figure out if Harry had anything to do with it.

Currently Gwen was sitting in her bed reading over her class notes. Gwen had a room to herself at Oxford. Her room was small. It had enough room for a bed, wardrobe, drawer and desk. It was small but Gwen found it comfortable once she had decorated it. Gwen's studying was interrupted by the email alert on her laptop.

She let out a sigh as she closed her notebook and climbed off the bed. She pulled out her chair and sat down at her desk. She smiled when she saw the email was from Peter. It read _'What are you up to?'_

Gwen sat up in the chair and began to type out her reply. _"Just studying, I have exams coming up.' _She pressed the send button, leaning back in her chair and began playing with the charms on her bracelet.

Gwen's attention went back to her screen when she heard another alert come from her computer speakers. She tiled her head to the side when she read the new message from Peter. _'You should probably go down to the main office.'_

Gwen was just about to reply when she saw the notification that Peter was no longer online. She turned off her laptop and stood up from her chair. She quickly slipped on her black converse and grabbed her bag before leaving room.

Gwen had no clue what to expect when she arrived to the main office. Her eyes lit up when she saw the tall person standing in the main office, his hair was covered by a beanie but Gwen knew who it was.

"Peter!"

She let her excitement get the better of her and ran towards Peter at full speed. She jumped on him, causing him to stumble backwards. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly before looking at him with a surprised look.

"Surprise," Peter said, laughing at how Gwen had her hands to his face as if she was making sure it was really him. She was completely speechless, her hands were shaking.

"Your here!" She said with a huge smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to surprise you!" He told her while laughing. "You have no idea how hard it was not to tell you."

Gwen pulled him close and kissed him. After a moment they pulled apart and Peter put Gwen down. He took a good look at her, her hair had been cut a few inches since he last seen her. She looked so beautiful.

"You look amazing!" He said.

Gwen just stared at him with a huge smile on her face. "I can't believe you're really here. Do you want to go out somewhere?"

Peter nodded as he continued to laugh at the shocked look on Gwen's face. "Sure, you have to be my tour guide."

"Yeah, that's no problem." Gwen said while taking his hand. Since it was very warm outside, Gwen didn't go back to get her coat. She took Peter to a little coffee shop what was only a five minute walk away. They didn't talk much on the way there since Gwen was still trying to take all of this in.

Both of them bought sodas in the coffee shop. They brought them outside and sat down at the outdoor tables on front of the shop window.

"This place is exactly how you described it." Peter said while looking around.

"You should see it when it's raining." Gwen slightly laughed. "I think this is the nicest weather there has been since I got here. How long are you going to be here for?"

"Just a little while, I wanted to give you a surprise visit." Peter drank some of his soda and put it back on the table. "Your family thought it was a great idea."

Gwen's eyes widened. "They knew?! They never told me."

"Off course they knew. I warned your brothers not to tell you." Peter laughed. "So what has been going on with you since I last saw you?"

Gwen thought for a moment before answering. "Well, I have to wear glasses now."

"What?" Peter said with a smile on his face. "You never told me."

"I only got them two weeks ago." Gwen laughed as she reached into her bag and pulled out a rectangular box. She took the black frames out of the box and put them on to show Peter. "I only have to wear them in class."

"They look great on you. I love your hair." Peter told her.

Gwen smiled as she looked at her newly cut hair. It was now cut just below her shoulders. She also got her bangs back after they grew out. "Thank you. I wanted some kind of change."

"Hey, I want to take you somewhere." Peter told her once they finished their sodas.

"Where are you going to take me? You don't even know your way around here." Gwen giggled.

"Just trust me, okay?"

Gwen nodded as Peter took her hand and guided her away from the coffee shop. They walked for about ten minutes. The area was very unfamiliar to Gwen. She looked up at Peter in confusion. "Peter, I don't know this area. Where are you taking me?"

"Just trust me. We are just going back to my hotel. I want to show you something."

They arrived at the hotel where Peter was staying about five minutes later. Peter brought Gwen to the elevator and pressed the button to bring them to the third floor. He guided Gwen to his room and took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. He held the door open for Gwen to walk in. He closed the door behind him and followed Gwen.

"So what did you want to show me?" Gwen asked.

"This is only a one bedroom apartment. The rent is pretty cheap and the neighbours are apparently quiet. It looks like a pretty safe area." Peter explained as he pointed to the printouts that were laid out on the bed.

Gwen looked around the bright and tidy hotel room. It was tiny with a double bed, table and chairs. The room had a little kitchen unit and a TV sitting on the dresser. There was only one other door in the room, which lead to the bathroom. Gwen walked over to the bed and looked at the printouts that Peter was pointing at. "Are you looking at apartments?"

"I've actually been here for a week." Peter confessed as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm here to look for somewhere to live."

"You're staying?" Gwen gasped.

"Not yet but I got a place in college here so I'm starting in September. Unfortunately the college doesn't have dorms like Oxford." Peter told her as he leaned his forehead against hers. "So for now I just need to find a job and somewhere to live."

Gwen shook her head as tears built up in her eyes. "When did you start planning all of this?"

"Not long after you left. I missed you so much and you weren't even five minutes gone." Peter told her.

"What about Harry?" Gwen asked. "What about all the crime in New York?"

"I'm not worried about Harry. He can't get to us. I trust the NYPD can take care of things at home." Peter said. "But if I'm going to be Spider-Man over here, we need some more ground rules."

Gwen laughed as she placed her head on Peter's shoulder. "More ground rules?"

Peter nodded before gently kissing the top of her head. "Number one, we can't be seen together when I'm in the Spider-Man costume."

"Okay, that's good." Gwen nodded, while smiling up at Peter.

"Number two, doesn't matter what situation I'm in, you don't follow me, okay?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and laughed. "Are you serious?"

By the way Peter looked at her; she knew that he wasn't joking. "I'm very serious. I'll web both your hands to a police car if I have too."

"Okay, I get it. We need to be careful." Gwen stated before pulled Peter into a passionate kiss. Peter moved backwards and fell onto the bed with Gwen in his arms. "Oh, and you better not web my hand to a car again. If you do, I won't be happy. You do not want to deal with me when I'm angry."

"I'll keep that in mind." Peter laughed as he gently brushed Gwen's hair behind her ears. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Peter." Gwen leaned in and kissed him again. "I can't believe you did all of this without telling me."

"I thought it was going to be a nice surprise." Peter said. "I wasn't going to tell you anyway until I was sure."

Gwen rested her head on Peter's shoulder and let out a happy sigh. "I just can't believe this. I really don't know what to say."

"From right now, I'm going to follow you everywhere." Peter held her closer and kissed her cheek. "I meant everything I said, you are my path."

"I know." Gwen said as she looked at the little charm on her bracelet.

"I promise. I'll always keep you safe." Peter took her hand and gently squeezed it. He began rubbing little circles on her hand with his thumb. "I won't let anything happen to you again."

Gwen sighed as she lifted her head and look into Peter's eyes. "Peter, I know you feel guilty over what happened at the tower. I want you to let go of that guilt. You saved my life. I wasn't badly hurt. We are both here now; we need to move on from what happened that night."

Peter nodded as he stroked Gwen's soft blonde hair. The thoughts of what happened to Gwen that night still haunt him. He mostly told Gwen he wasn't going to England with her out of fear that it was going to happen again. He knew he needed to let that fear go. They were going to start a new life here together. He was going to make sure Gwen would never get involved like that again.

"What are you thinking about?" Gwen asked as she gently stroked his hair.

Peter smiled as he looked at her again. "I'm just thinking about you, how we are here together now."

Gwen smiled as he leaned in and kissed Peter. After a moment they pulled away, Gwen leaned down and whispered into his ear. "Our adventure starts now."


End file.
